STATE POLLS | Despite winning the Kota Damansara seat in Selangor with a comfortable margin in the 2018 national polls, Pakatan Harapan could find itself in an uncomfortable predicament this time around.
In last November’s general election, there was a significant drop in voter turnout, with its candidate for the Sungai Buloh federal seat only receiving 43 percent of Kota Damansara votes.
This situation combined with the contest on Aug 12 being a three-way tussle involving Perikatan Nasional’s Radzlan Jalaludin and PSM’s A Sivarajan, BN’s alliance with DAP and the high cost of living, Harapan’s Izuan Kasim could face an uphill task.
Malay voters in the constituency whom Malaysiakini met, especially those from the lower-income bracket, appeared to be leaning towards PN.
According to them, PN had performed well when it led the federal government during the Covid-19 pandemic.
A food delivery rider, who wished to be identified only as Ari, said he appreciated the financial assistance from the Muhyiddin Yassin-led government during the period.
The 38-year-old father of four, who is from the Gugusan Semarak flats in Section 4, said he voted for PN in the last general election and intended to do the same on Aug 12.
“I have four children aged between one and 12. When PN was the government, they helped the people a lot.
“Life was better for us then, with all the assistance for us. It helped us to feed our children and send them to school, especially during the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
With a population of 177,765 people spread across some 60 sq km area, N.39 Kota Damansara has a higher population density compared to the average Selangor constituency.
According to 2020 census data by the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), wealth inequality is also higher in the area, making financial assistance like cash handouts from governments and NGOs matter a lot for the sizeable number of voters who are on the lower end of the income spectrum.
While Harapan had won Kota Damansara with a comfortable margin of votes in 2018, results of the 15th general election in November had shown PN gaining a substantial amount of support in the constituency.
Malaysiakini went to the ground to interview Malay voters from lower income section in Kota Damansara in an attempt to gauge the general sentiment of this group especially due to the latest changes in Malaysia's political alignment and dynamics, which saw BN forming a cooperation with more a moderate Harapan, while PN adopted a more Malay-right hardline approach.
Anger towards former PKR rep
On the same note, several housewives and single mothers from the Seri Purnama flats in Subang Bestari - like Juliana Mohd Nazri and her friend Noraini Ghazali - are also considering casting their ballots for PN.
Although describing themselves as BN supporters who voted for the coalition in the past, the pair want to see a change in the state government.
“I believe PN is a better choice because I can see what they did for us. Therefore, I believe we should give them a chance and see what they will do for this state.
“People like us from the B40 group are struggling to fend for ourselves, and we hope PN can help us with the high cost of living. I believe they are better in handling the economy,” said Juliana, 40, who runs a bubble tea stall with her husband to support their family of five.
During the interviews, several voters also expressed dissatisfaction towards their former assemblyperson, Shatiri Mansor from PKR.
Gugusan Semarak resident Mohd Atan Ahmad, 58, who had voted for Shatiri in the 2018 general election, said he regretted doing so.
“Like many others, I decided to change from BN to support Harapan hoping for a better change. But compared to Shatiri, I found that Halimaton Saadiah Bohan (previous state representative from BN) was much better than him.
“At least Halimaton would visit us and send help during disasters. But during the pandemic, Shatiri did not do much for us. We felt let down,” the father of six told Malaysiakini.
Atan said the sentiment to change the state government was also prevalent in the Whatsapp groups for residents in the area.
Another resident, who identified herself as Intan, claimed that Shatri did not make good on his promises to help the poor.
Furthermore, a number of voters told Malaysiakini that Bersatu hopeful Radzlan was a more familiar sight compared to Shatiri, who has been dropped, over the past years.
Anti-DAP sentiment
Besides these issues, Malay voters, especially those who supported BN in the past, are not comfortable with the political alliance with DAP, citing this as one of the main reasons that they would vote for PN.
For wheelchair user Noraini, the choice is simple.
“We should try PN this time because I see that they are fighting for the Malays,” she said.
Her friend Intan, on the other hand, appeared to have been convinced by the false narrative peddled by DAP’s opponents that it is a “communist party”.
“I am okay if it was just PKR, but I cannot accept the fact that Umno is now working with DAP, because DAP is communist… So we have to defend our country,” she stressed.
Similarly, for Muaz, a 29-year-old clerk from the Gugusan Dedap flats in Section 11, and Siti Azizah Man, 47, the DAP factor would prevent them from voting for the Harapan candidate.
“I don’t want BN any longer because they are now friends with DAP,” said Siti, adding that she would have to account for her decision in the hereafter.
Malaysiakini learned that some voters are also attracted to PN due to the coalition’s manifesto, which promised numerous goodies and financial incentives for the people of Selangor.
These included promises to expand the state’s free water scheme, cash incentives for newlyweds and honeymoon packages at local destinations, RM500 for new mothers, and a monthly cash aid of RM400 for some 65,000 eligible families under “Bantuan Prihatin Keluarga Selangor.”
Kota Damansara is a constituency with some 60 percent Malay voters, followed by Chinese (27 percent) and Indians (12 percent).
In the 2018 general election, Shatiri won the seat in a four-cornered fight after defeating incumbent Halimaton by 15,703 votes.
The other candidates were Siti Rohaya Ahad from PAS, who received 5,633 votes, and Sivarajan (435). - Mkini
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